We have sent our daughter to Pride Prep for two years and counting.
It is true the learning environment takes a bit to get used to. However, I want to add that it has been the best environment and the best choice for our child.
We transferred her here from Garry Middle. Coincidentally, on her last day of school at Gary, her friend was viciously attacked while sitting next to her at the lunch table. My daughter tends to be studious, quiet and kind, so this was very shocking and upsetting for her to have happen out of the blue. The staff at Gary did not follow up with us about this incident, and seemed to consider the assault as part of "just another day".
Unfortunately, we were told this kind of behavior is typical at Spokane Schools. For us, this was the last straw. We did not want our daughter to have to fear attending school.
Also while attending district 81 schools, our daughter was constantly being paired with the lowest performing students because the teachers wanted her to "help them do better". This usually meant the other kids did not do their own share of work, and our daughter spent many evenings and weekends trying to do all the work herself, so she would not get a bad grade on group projects. We tried to curb this with the teachers, but it was useless.
Moving our daughter to Pride Prep has resulted in our daughter feeling safer at school. They do tend to talk through conflicts and spend allot of one on one time with students that are struggling behaviorally, but in the end, will not hesitate to suspend or expel student's that do not respond to coaching or thrive in an open learning, self- motivated atmosphere.
I appreciate that the school staff tends to welcome students that have had a rough start and want to make positive changes by starting fresh at Pride Prep. Sometimes, that does not work out, but it is not for lack of trying. We have seen the school staff take a personal interest in every student's success and work to establish positive relationships with students. No one here is "just a name"... Which has encouraged a supportive learning environment overall. That does not mean there are _no_ problems, but it does mean that the staff is there to work with parents and children as part of the overall team. It is refreshing that many of the more extreme issues related to school violence, is generally kept to a minimum.
As for their cell phone policy, I support them locking the phones up during the day. Although it is tempting to want instant access to our children, what I have seen in practice is that it is too easy for the children to be distracted by texting each other in class: cheating, bullying, gossiping, flirting. Also we have found children accessing inappropriate content together during the school day via their phones - we are no prudes, but we have seen the extent some kids will go to sext each other and/or carry on questionable online relationships with people who do not have their safety in mind. We have had to restrict access with our own child as a consequence for poor online habits, and then deal with other children who enabled her to access the inappropriate content anyway while at school from _their_ phones. Which is maddening.
When we have had to contact our daughter in an emergency or on short notice, we have been able to email her primary "den leader" and/or call the office and get a prompt response. Each classroom is wired for phone and email, so the "what if" situation of a school shooting is not going to be solved by talking to our children on the phone. Whenever our daughter has wanted to call me during a class, the teacher accommodates without issue.
As for working with children who have special needs - one of our children has a behavioral plan and the other has a strict IEP. Pride Prep does not adhere to the BI/DI model used by Spokane School District. Some children need a specific BI/DI room, but those two options do not meet the majority of needs for special education students. In many other parts of the state, public schools have retired the BI/DI model in favor of more effective/inclusive programs. Even so, Pride Prep is still working out how to integrate a solid Special Education program into their model. In the meantime, the staff has been very willing to work with us on any accommodations we request and have been genuinely involved in supporting IEPs and 504 plans to the best of their ability. As opposed to hearing "The school district will not support _that_" when trying to work with Spokane Schools; Pride Prep has instead said," I don't know how, but let's try to find a way". They did have a change over the 2018 summer as to who was in charge of the Special Ed program, but that seems to have been resolved.
Our daughter still struggles with working in teams, but in the best possible way. Children who under perform are given extra support, while she is encouraged to work on improving her teamwork skills. We are glad she enjoys attending. read more
